"But They'll Only Spend it on Drugs!"

I'm going to step on a few toes here. But I'm getting surprisingly good at that and may need to add that to the existing skillsets on my resume!

I read with interest an article on a Chinese tycoon that took out a newspaper ad offering a free meal and $300 for New York's homeless. He came through on the meal, but the promised money never went to the homeless directly. Instead, it went straight to the New York Rescue Mission.

Now, to be completely fair to the tycoon, he did actually make good on his promise; the money that he contributed to the rescue mission exceeded the amount he would have paid out per head directly. And yes, it still was a remarkably cool gesture on his part.

But he fell victim to a well travelled and common lie, one that gets under my skin with every telling. The lie is that the poor are irresponsible; that the money you give them will only go to drugs and alcohol. More often, it goes to diapers, gas, or the heating bill, but the lie that the poor will abuse our good faith is one that started, I believe, to keep people comfortable in their greed.

Nobody argues to slash the salary of a rich man, justifying it by saying "oh, he'll only spend it on caviar". Nobody looks down on the middle class, saying "they'll only spend it on Call of Duty". It is only the poor who can expect to have every purchase scrutinized, every financial decision judged by those who deem themselves their societal "betters".

And while I don't appreciate folks who claim to speak for Jesus, and would not presume to do so, I can say with reasonable certainty that He would probably not be too keen on those who judge the poor unworthy of their assistance because of stereotypes.

What someone who has never been poor fails to understand is there are some times when cash is the only answer. When you have to drive 60 miles to get to a job site, surprisingly, tracts aren't going to get there (and will probably clog your fuel line!). That 40 year old can of beets from the back of your pantry produces a surprisingly small amount of heat energy to stave off the cold of a winter's night. And the 1970's Nehru jacket that you donated to Goodwill cannot be exchanged at the local pharmacy for the badly needed prescription.

I'm not saying to throw all caution to the wind, and certainly good judgement is not out of place. But, please, examine your hearts, and ask whether your failure to give is driven by compassion for that poor man down the streets or rather by the impending cancellation of your Netflix subscription.

The sobering reality in giving is that we ALL can do more. I'm not putting myself above ANYONE in this discussion. But the only way we WILL do more is to be honest with ourselves and stop peddling the lies that keep us from doing so.